Manchester Directors Adopt Budget That Increases Taxes 4.6%

MANCHESTER — — To retain educational and municipal services that were proposed for elimination, the board of directors adopted a budget Tuesday night that raises taxes by 4.6 percent.

The $170.6 million spending plan for fiscal year 2013-14 is an overall 3.1 percent increase over the current $165.5 million budget.

The spending plan gives the board of education a 3.9 percent increase, more than General Manager Scott Shanley's proposed 3.1 percent, but less than the school superintendent's proposed 4.5 percent and far less than the 5.5 percent boost that the school board sought.

Still, Mayor Leo Diana said, the budget will prevent proposed cuts in school programs and personnel, including elementary school music instruction, the gifted and talented program and an athletic trainer at the high school. Also, the IOH Pool at Manchester High School, which Shanley had originally proposed for elimination, will be kept open while officials figure a way to make it self-sustaining.

"This budget is a measured solution to a complicated issue for our society," Diana said. "It is a practical combination of the use of our resources to maintain services that this community has now, expects to continue and can afford."

The budget requires a general fund tax rate of 33.03 mills, up from the current 31.58 mills. A mill represents $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value, so the owner of a home assessed at the median value of $118,300 will pay $172 more annually. With a separate increase in the fire district tax rate, the annual tax bill for that homeowner will increase by a total of $190.

Shanley's recommended budget would have increased taxes by 3.6 percent. He said his plan was driven in large part by shifts in state funds proposed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy that left a net reduction of about $1.87 million available for general fund revenue.

The grand list of all taxable property grew by only $625,000, so the budget that directors adopted uses $900,000 in reserve funds. Board minority leader Cheri Pelletier strongly objected to the use of rainy day funds as "a budgeting tool" in a weak economy.

"The minority stands firm in our resolve to resist any further temptation to raid reserve funds to pay for ongoing operations," Pelletier said. "We acknowledge the effectiveness reserves can have in budgeting when used incrementally during difficult times, but our continuing overreliance on reserves will create a budget crisis in subsequent years and drive up the cost of capital projects by negatively affecting the town's bond rating."

Pelletier and fellow Republican board member Mark Tweedie voted against the general fund budget, while the six Democratic board members voted in favor. Board member Susan Holmes, a Republican, was absent.